According to media reports on Wednesday, $Alphabet-A (GOOGL.US)$ The executives are expected to appear in court next week for questioning by the U.S. Department of Justice regarding profit from advertisements. The company had previously been found guilty of illegal monopoly in an important antitrust case involving online searches. The Department of Justice and multiple states will seek to prove that Google violated U.S. antitrust laws in its digital advertising business. The report states that if the states and the Department of Justice win, it will lay the foundation for them to request that Judge Leonie Brinkema in the United States order the company to be split up.
Antitrust regulators claim that Google has dominated the technical market behind website advertising by bundling the tools it provides to publishers and advertisers, thereby occupying a privileged position as an "intermediary." However, Google denies these claims.
While the focus of the case is Google's ubiquitous search engine, next Monday's trial will focus on the less obvious technology that connects Google with website publishers and advertisers. These advertising tools contributed over 75% of Google's advertising revenue of $307.4 billion last year.
According to the report, this is the second major antitrust trial. The US Department of Justice claims that Google controls 91% of the market for ad-serving platforms. However, Google argues that its share in these markets is only 30% or even less if social media, streaming TV, and applications are included.
According to reports, the trial will take place in Virginia next Monday. Current or former executives from News Corporation, the Daily Mail, and Genius may testify in the trial. Genius has sued Google.
Officials from the US Department of Justice will question how the company profits from advertising. The way Google views its advertising technology will be a key focus of the trial, with over 20 current and former employees and executives expected to testify, including YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, who previously worked as an advertising executive at Google.
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